Canvassing w/ Minivan
MiniVAN is a mobile application that allows volunteers to canvass without the need for stacks of paper lists or hours of data entry. Using MiniVAN is highly recommended for canvassing.
When a canvasser knocks doors using MiniVAN, their data syncs back to Votebuilder in real-time. This allows you to track the progress of your canvassers and review the integrity of the data collected before committing the data into the database.
MiniVAN is free and produced by NGP, the same company that created Votebuilder. They've also produced an awesome manual for MiniVAN called the MiniVANual. You can download it from this link!
Walkthrough
Step-by-Step Instructions
1) You should begin by creating a list of the people you want to canvas. Often you will want to begin your list by selecting all Democrats within a relatively small geographical area, like a precinct or neighborhood, and then farther sorting for frequent voters or another criteria.
It may be helpful to keep the list under 2,000 people.
2) Once you have that list you'll want to select the "Cut Turfs" button in the top right.
3) Cut your list into turfs of roughly 80 doors. To do this you can either draw the turf boundaries by hand or use the create turf automatically button in the top left.
Then select save and finish
4) After you've cut your turfs you should be brought to the "My Turfs" tab in the side bar.
But you can always find your Turfs in the sidebar.
5) From the "My Turfs" page first select the individual turf you would like to canvas or the whole region you would like to canvas.
Then select "Quick Actions" you will most likely want to select print if you want to canvas with a paper list or select send to MiniVAN if you want to canvas through the MiniVAN app.
6) If your printing a paper walk list you want to select the report format you would like to use.
And then select "Walk" for the contact method.
You will also likely want to select a Script. For more information on how to create a Script visit the script tab under "vote builder 102" .
Then press save. You should now have a walk list!
Step 2: Entering your Walk Data
1) Each of your list should have a turf number that can be found in your printed packet summery or on the bottom of each page. You'll need this number to enter your walk results.
2) Once you've completed a canvas it's now time to enter that data. Begin be selecting "Grid View" from the side panel
3) Pull up your walk list and then select next.
4) Enter the Script, Canvasser, Date Canvassed, and how they were contacted. Then select next.
5) The results you are able to enter will vary depending on the script you are using. Enter the results form you canvas.
At the bottom of the page there is a "Mark Remaining Not Home" button that will help you save some time.
